Abstract:
Although smartphone ownership among minors has become an important social phenomenon, its impact on children\'s and adolescents\' well-being, as well as the mechanisms by which this might take place are not yet sufficiently well-established. To date, no research has examined the effect of smartphone ownership on the well-being of minors through the consumption of influencer-generated content, nor has it explored the effectiveness of the main prevention strategies employed by parents in this context. To fill those gaps, 800 Spanish minors (50% female) aged from 8 to 16 years old (M = 12.33, SD = 2.38) participated in a correlational study in which the ownership of electronic devices, the consumption of influencer generated content, the parasocial relationship with the influencer, and the most common parental mediation strategies were considered. The results showed a positive association between electronic device ownership and psychological discomfort, problematic usage, and imitation of dangerous behaviors. This association was mediated by the consumption of influencer-generated content and the parasocial relationship established by the minor with the influencer. Regarding preventive strategies, only active mediation was inversely related to poorer well-being indicators, however this positive effect significantly decreased when a smartphone or a similar electronic device was owned by the minor (vs. no owned). These findings contribute to the understanding of how smartphone ownership can affect the well-being of children, emphasizing the need for thoughtful consideration when deciding whether to provide smartphones to minors.
摘要:
尽管未成年人拥有智能手机已经成为一种重要的社会现象,它对儿童和青少年福祉的影响,以及可能发生这种情况的机制尚未充分建立。迄今为止,没有研究通过消费影响者生成的内容来研究智能手机所有权对未成年人福祉的影响,它也没有探索父母在这种情况下采用的主要预防策略的有效性。为了填补这些空白,800名年龄在8至16岁之间的西班牙未成年人(50%为女性)(M=12.33,SD=2.38)参加了一项相关研究,其中电子设备的所有权,影响者产生的内容的消费,与影响者的非社会关系,并考虑了最常见的父母调解策略。结果显示,电子设备所有权与心理不适之间存在正相关,有问题的使用,模仿危险行为。这种关联是由影响者产生的内容的消耗以及未成年人与影响者建立的非社会关系介导的。关于预防策略,只有积极的调解与较差的福祉指标成反比,然而,当智能手机或类似的电子设备由未成年人拥有时,这种积极影响显着下降(与没有拥有)。这些发现有助于理解智能手机所有权如何影响儿童的福祉,强调在决定是否向未成年人提供智能手机时需要深思熟虑。